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Animal & Veterinary Science Team Profiles
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Animal & Veterinary Science Research Group ambition is encompassed in the aims of the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain (AHWS): ‘To improve the health and welfare of animals kept by man, and to protect public health from disease’.
Our research contributes to a healthy and productive natural environment, to a thriving agricultural economy adapted to the impacts of climate change and minimising its environmental impact.
Our work contributes to:
Competitive Agriculture – benefiting production by improving animal management and through the development of sustainable means of disease control.
Environment and Rural Landscapes – by quantifying the impacts of environmental change and understanding the consequences for enterprises and animal health, whilst providing solutions for rural sustainability.
Rural Development – linking to the SAC’s Rural Policy Centre and providing an evidence base for policy making in the area of animal health.
Education & Skills – providing input to taught courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level. Post-graduate research training is an important part of our work and at any one time we have more than 10 post-graduate students in the Animal Health Research Group.
The administration of the group is through three main research teams:
Animal Behaviour and Welfare
The main research themes of the Animal Behaviour and Welfare team are understanding behavioural development in animals and the development of scientifically valid, practical and reliable methods of welfare assessment.
Animal Breeding & Genomics
The overall goal for SAC’s animal breeding and genomics research is to bring together our strengths in developmental biology and animal breeding and genetics to:
- optimise health, welfare and fitness-related traits in domestic species
- improve the economic value and quality of livestock products
- meet the need for disease-free conservation of animal genetic resources.
CT Scanning Service
The Animal & Veterinary Science Research Group provides services to end users derived from its research activity.
Edinburgh Genetic Evaluation Services
EGENES currently provides genetic evaluations for UK dairy cattle on behalf of DairyCo as part of its Breeding+ service.